In the Marvel Universe: I can summon items from all dimensions.

Chapter 51 Lorna's Secret

Mason calmly watched Allardes, observing the sweat gradually beading on his forehead, his expression shifting from bewilderment to extreme, before suddenly turning fierce and glaring back. "Oh, this kid seems about to make a move. Should I protect you, guest?"

In the blink of an eye, Mason heard the leisurely voice of Black Stone Cloud Feather in his mind.

"Hmm—" Mason replied, "Do you have a way to reduce or block my pain for a period of time?"

""

"You really do like to make strange requests, don't you, guest?"

Kuroshi Kasumi smugly hummed twice: "This kind of thing—of course, is no problem. I can adjust my poison gas formula to turn it into a special neurotoxin that can dull a person's senses in a few minutes—but it's really not easy to charge for a single dose—oh well, just consider it a small gift like a random bonus."

"Wow, that's incredibly useful," Mason said with his usual thanks. "Thank you for your help."

The instant after the telepathic exchange ended, Mason felt a thin gas with a smell similar to rust rush into his nasal cavity—this must be the so-called neurotoxin. He didn't know how Kuroshi Kasumi had administered it.

However, as she said, in less than ten seconds, he clearly felt that his body had become much less sensitive. He could no longer feel things like the friction between his clothes and his skin. To be honest, it was a bit scary. It was a feeling that his brain could give instructions, but his body seemed not to give any feedback.

Just seconds after this sluggishness spread throughout Mason's body, Allardyce suddenly sprang to life, and the fireball floating in his palm grew to the size of a volleyball in an instant. Then, he flung it over.

The act of attacking the teacher in the first class caused many other students to scream. Bobby the Iceman, who was closer, even tried to spray ice mist to stop it, but in his haste, he was always a step too slow, and the fireball flew directly to Mason's face.

It's a bit faster than a regular shot, but not fast enough to be unstoppable.

Mason even had time to shrug before raising his hand to block the fireball's path.

The next instant, scorching flames burst and scattered in his palm. It was hard to say exactly how hot they were, but judging from the efficiency with which his skin and some muscles were charred, they certainly weren't low.

Fortunately, it was just a regular flame, not the kind of napalm that's hard to remove once it gets on you, so Mason just shook his hand vigorously like he was swatting a mosquito and it went out.

Super Beast's poison is really effective. Even with his entire hand burned black, Mason only felt a stinging pain similar to being pricked by a thumbtack. If he was prepared, he could withstand it completely without any change in expression.

The academy's uniforms are truly amazing; even after being burned by high-temperature flames, they didn't even leave a trace of blackening.

After putting on such a nonchalant act, Mason used his other hand to extinguish the embers of the fire that had started burning on the table next to him. At the same time, he mobilized the energy in his body, and his hand, which had become thinner from the fire, quickly grew new muscles, squeezing out the charred tissue. In just a few seconds, it was completely restored to its original state.

"Didn't I tell you, Mr. Allardyce? Problems within the academy must be solved academically." Mason lightly brushed away the remaining carbon particles from the back of his hand, then smiled and said, "Admittedly, choosing to silence your opponent after losing a debate is a form of victory, but based on your theory, even in my presence, you are an absolute weakling. So, if I were to take your life now, would you comply with the demands of this strongman?"

As he spoke, he walked over step by step, his face still bearing that unchanging smile: "Well? Answer me, Mr. Allardyce."

Attacking Mason was already a desperate act for Allardyce, and after the fireball was caught so easily, his pressure immediately reached its peak, and his emotions collapsed.

He frantically tried to back away, but tripped over a table leg and fell flat on his backside. After mumbling a few words, he finally let out a terrified scream: "Don't come any closer!!!"

Mason stopped, shook his head, and said, "It's a pity, Mr. Allardyce. I thought you would be more courageous."

After saying that, he turned around and went back to the podium, took out the student's daily behavior evaluation form, marked a red cross in the Allardes column, and said indifferently: "Since attacking a teacher is a serious violation of school rules, Mr. Allardes, I will tell Miss Orolo about this and let her decide on your punishment. In addition, although I will not cancel your final exam, your daily rating here will only be the lowest level."

Allardyce did not answer him, for he was now sitting on the ground babbling incoherently.

Mason ignored him and changed the subject, asking, "Mr. Drake?"

"!"

Bobby was so frightened that he stood up straight on the spot.

"Protecting others in the face of danger is an excellent quality, and I will include it in your evaluation at the end of the semester."

Mason smiled at him, then turned to show him a small patch of frost on his left back.

"But remember to aim more accurately next time."

"yes!"

"very good."

Mason nodded, then took out his phone and sent a text message to the provost, Storm, briefly explaining the situation—he immediately received a "?!" in response.

Not long after, she rushed over and burst into the classroom through the back door, staring wide-eyed at Allardyce sitting on the floor and Mason on the podium.

"What are you doing?!"

"Thank God, I did nothing but talk. It was Mr. Allardes who suddenly threw a fireball at me."

"————" She paused for a moment, and after thinking it over, she decided to take Allardyce away to calm down first.

Since it's a classroom and it seems no one has been harmed, my responsibility is to first stabilize the situation, and then use methods like reviewing surveillance footage to reconstruct what exactly happened before making a decision.

After watching the two leave the classroom, Mason breathed a sigh of relief, then cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, let's continue the lesson."

The audience nodded vigorously, looking much more attentive than when the course had just begun.

Great, it seems I can start teaching properly now.

Some time later, in the principal's office, Charles, Hank, and Storm gathered in front of a computer that was playing surveillance footage.

"this----"

After watching Mason's actions, Hank scratched his chin and said, "Although the method seems a bit radical, the point of view is not wrong. I've said before that some brats need strong medicine to understand things, and Mason seems to know a lot about this kind of operation."

"No, no, no, this is clearly a threat to the students! Teachers shouldn't do something like that!"

——————————————————————————————————————

Storm shook her head vigorously: "Even if he doesn't get a reprimand, shouldn't he at least try to soften his style a bit?"

"Oloro, you're being indecisive," Hank accused. "This isn't some ordinary school. If we're too moderate, the result might be that we're easily swayed by a few inflammatory remarks from the fraternity. Do you really want to see that happen?"

"But----"

Storm was choked and speechless for a moment, and could only look to Charles for help.

"My opinion?"

Charles smiled. "My suggestion is—leave it alone."

"what?"

"Oloro, times are changing." Charles suddenly sighed. "The situation that mutants will face in the future may be even more severe. In order to prevent tragedies from happening, the teaching program does need to be changed to some extent. Although Mr. Mason's style is a bit radical, it may not be unsuitable as a reference."

Mason was naturally unaware of the conversation that took place in the principal's office, but before he confronted Allardyce, he had already guessed that the surveillance footage would be checked afterward, so he wasn't afraid at all.

Incidentally, he wasn't trying to deliberately find someone to target and shoot at. Allardes' sudden madness was unplanned. He originally just intended to be an ordinary teacher, but in the past two days, while consulting with other teachers, he discovered a peculiar rule in the academy.

—One should not emulate Magneto.

To be precise, it involves Eric Lansher's Nazi rhetoric that mutants are superior to humans—if a student makes similar claims or has been influenced by them, they will be given special attention and intensified love and peace education by the teachers. The reason given is that when this aspect was not emphasized in the past, many graduates of the Academy were deceived by the fraternity, and the Academy had no other choice but to introduce this kind of response.

But the results were minimal.

After all, the Academy is engaged in education, while the Brotherhood is engaged in brainwashing. It is obvious which side is more likely to have an impact on people. In fact, even among the X-Men, there are a few traitors who ran to the Brotherhood. On the other hand, there are also people like the White Queen who were originally in the Brotherhood but switched to the X-Men halfway through. So the two sides can be considered to have had their share of back and forth.

However, Mason prefers to call it a love-hate relationship between two old men.

In short, being a teacher seemed to suit Mason unexpectedly well. He stood on the podium and taught the same lesson to different students six times in a row, and even after get off work, he still felt like he hadn't had enough and was thoroughly satisfied in every sense of the word.

It was six o'clock in the afternoon, school was over. Mason was making up his daily reports for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra while carrying his briefcase toward the dining hall—a place that showcased the academy's wealth. It was a three-story castle-like church that offered a wide variety of dishes, including French, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Turkish, and Southeast Asian cuisine, all of which were quite authentic. He wondered where the professor had hired such professional chefs.

After getting a few plates of Sichuan dishes from the Chinese food section on the second floor of the cafeteria, Mason saw Lorna sitting in a corner eating a hamburger.

At this moment, she was wearing a simple outfit that looked like pajamas, her curly hair was messy, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She looked like she had stayed up all night and was in a terrible state. If it weren't for the striking black-green color of her hair, Mason wouldn't have recognized her at first glance.

—What's wrong? It's only been two days, how come your whole demeanor has changed?

So I took my tray and went over to her, sat down opposite her, and waved hello: "Haven't seen you for two days, how have you been?"

"It's you."

Lorna glanced at him, then chewed on something and said in a muffled and listless voice, "It's alright. I've been studying in my room for two days. Whatever happens outside has nothing to do with me. Thinking about it that way, even being in the academy isn't so hard to endure."

"Difficult to stay up late?" Mason blinked and said knowingly, "I can tell, you're not very good at staying up late."

"?" She looked bewildered, as if she didn't understand what Mason meant.

"Let's not talk about that. You look so ethereal. How about trying this to refresh yourself?"

Mason scooped up a spoonful of Mapo Tofu and brought it to her, intending only to make a joke, but she actually opened her mouth and swallowed the tofu without even thinking.

—As everyone knows, for this dish, numbing sensation and scalding heat are two very important indicators. The portion that Mason brought seemed to have been made not long ago, so the tofu coated in the oily sauce had to be blown on and eaten in small sips.

"!!!!!"

The next instant, Lorna's eyes widened, and her face, which had been almost deathly pale, flushed red.

As if grasping at a straw, she grabbed the iced cola from her plate and gulped down half of it before she could catch her breath.

—A fierce, resentful gaze focused on Mason in the next moment.

"You did this on purpose?" she asked through gritted teeth, pointing at Mason.

"Ahem—an accident, an accident." Mason awkwardly looked away, then pushed his orange juice towards her, tentatively asking, "Consider it an apology?"

She took a few deep breaths, and only after Mason felt he was about to be hurt by her gaze did he see her fiercely grab the orange juice he handed her and gulp it down.

"My bad, I won't make jokes like that again," Mason apologized, then quickly changed the subject, "Haven't you slept these past two days? This look is really shabby."

"Not everyone can fall asleep so soundly in half an hour like you," Lorna rolled her eyes. "What? Can't I be in a different bed?"

The flaw in his statement was so obvious that Mason didn't even want to respond, but instinct compelled him to blurt out the sarcastic remark: "Didn't you grow up in an academy? If you're not comfortable sleeping in a particular bed, you should be comfortable sleeping in this one!"

Lorna clicked her tongue and said in a deliberately nitpicking tone, "Hmph? You know quite a lot, huh? What? Did you specifically inquire about me?"

"Please respect S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intelligence network, thank you."

Mason sold off his former employer without batting an eye: "I saw your resume before I left."

"A stalker?"

"That's what secret agents do."

After a couple of lighthearted banter to ease the tension, Mason revealed his true intentions: "So? What exactly is your love-hate relationship with the academy?"

"—" Lorna's movements froze for a moment, then she unconsciously looked away: "Why are you asking this?"

"Just curious."

Mason replied calmly, "If I had only dealt with your side, I might have thought it was some kind of rebellious phase. But the X-Men's attitude is quite interesting. It's almost like they owe you something. Even though your attitude seems incredibly irritating, everyone is putting up with you. Unless they're all masochists in some way, there's no reason for them to act this way, right?"

Lorna slammed her drink on the table, giving Mason a chilling look. "Knowing it's some kind of secret, why keep asking? Aren't you afraid of being silenced for breaking some taboo?"

"If you ask if I'm scared, then yes, I am." Mason shrugged. "But curiosity is something you can't resist, and besides—"

"Besides what?"

"Brainwave Enhancement Machine, you and the professor, maliciously enhancing your abilities"

Mason uttered a few keywords, and unsurprisingly, Lorna reacted with intense shock.

"How do you know this?!"

She let out a roar that she tried to suppress.

At the same time, wisps of dark green smoke rose from her hand, and then several scalpel blades flew out of her pajama pocket, all aimed at Mason.

She scanned Mason with a mixture of anger and tension—which struck him as odd, because although she was making threatening gestures, there was little murderous intent in her expression; instead, panic was more prominent.

"Oh, sir, this young lady is much more capable than the young man this morning. Should I lend a hand?"

"No need, I can handle it myself."

Rejecting Kuroshi Kasumi's request for protection, and facing several blades poised to strike his neck, Mason didn't even lift an eyelid before continuing, "Remember that night when we confronted the ninja? After that ninja was taken care of by the helpful bystanders, I caught you as you were about to fall to the ground—and then that strange scene popped into my head. So you shouldn't be asking me how I know, you should be asking me why you leaked it."

"?!?"

Lorna's mouth gaped open, her anger visibly turning into self-doubt: "—How could this be——has my power gone out of control again?"

again?

It seems that similar situations have occurred more than once.

Mason chose to bring up this topic here not out of any ulterior motive, but simply because he felt the opportunity was right. After all, even if it wasn't his own initiative, such behavior still constituted peeping into someone else's secrets. If it were an enemy or a stranger, it would be one thing, but since Lorna was a friend, he shouldn't have just watched and pretended nothing had happened. Instead, he needed to find an opportunity to make things clear.

The next moment, the blades floating in mid-air all fell down with a clatter.

Lorna held her head, overwhelmed with extreme frustration.

"Lorna, calm down."

Suddenly, a gentle female voice rang out from the side of the two of them.

They both turned to look and saw a woman with long, red curly hair standing there holding a tray, giving them a gentle smile.

"Ah—I can't beat this guy, sir. Good luck."

Kuroshi Kasumi immediately uttered a heartless voice.

Who could make her show such fear? The answer is undoubtedly Jean Grey, the most important figure in the X-Men, an extremely rare Omega-level mutant and the host of the Phoenix Force.

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